Arunachal Pradesh chief Minister Pema Khandu has constituted a committee that would monitor the progress of the 4-lane highway (NH 415, Package A) 24×7 and coordinate with the implementing agency for completion of the project before March 2021.
Chief minister Khandu had last month announced that he would quit his post if the construction of the said portion of road is not completed by March 31 next year.
Taking a review meeting with the PWD (Highway Zone), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) representatives and the contractor T K Engineering here on Monday, Khandu said “the committee while monitoring the progress everyday would coordinate with the contractor in facilitating ease of work.”
It would liaise with other government agencies so that all hurdles, if any, are resolved to fast track the work, he said.
The committee would be headed by PWD’s design and planning chief engineer Atop Lego with joint secretary to CM Kangki Darang, officer on special duty to CM Lham Tashi and consultant Pradeep Mehta as members.
Home Minister Bamang Felix and advisors to PWD minister, Phosum Khimhun (Eastern Zone) and Phurpa Tsering (Western Zone) would also personally monitor the progress of work on a daily basis.
As pointed out by the PWD (Highway Zone), Khandu urged the CMD of T K Engineering, Rotu Techi to immediately overhaul his men and machinery deployed in construction of the stretch from Chandranagar to Papu-Nallah of the state capital.
“Common people are suffering a lot. Therefore, we are not going to accept any excuses. Complete the stretch before March,” the chief minister ordered.
He asked the CMD to immediately increase the number of labourers, bring in sufficient materials and deploy adequate tools and plants with the target in mind.
Khandu suggested the implementing party to plan a work-chart of 10 days each so that targets are achieved from the micro level.
“Don’t sit on your target of March 20, 2021. Plan, set a target of next ten days and work to complete it. If you achieve the target set for the next 5 to 10 days, you will be able to complete the project even by February. Set February as the target and get down to work,” he said.
The 10.9 km (Package A) stretch of NH 415 consists of 2 bridges, 36 culverts, 1 underpass, 9.83 kms of protection walls and 17.025 kms of side drains.
While work on one of the bridges (Chandranagar) is under progress, work on the other (also in Chandranagar) is yet to start.
Meanwhile, it was informed during the discussion that for the remaining stretch from Papu-Nallah to Banderdewa (Package B and C) all decks have been cleared by MoRTH.
The tendering process for Package B is underway, which will be immediately followed by Package C.